[Urinary lithiasis: history and ethics].

This paper surveys the evolution of urinary stone treatment, primarily in the bladder, from ancient times to the 19th century, taking into consideration, not only technical breakthroughs, but also the moral sense of therapists, the social, political and religious context of the studied periods, the appreciation of symptoms and pain meaning by doctors or barber-surgeons; finally, a set of factors which contributes to the evolution of the medical thought.